Love Lives On
by Qster13
Summary: The lives of two Hogwarts professors over the course of the second war and its aftermath. Sorry summaries really aren't my forte, neither are titles.
1. Chapter 1

Author's note: Just a little background information about this story. It takes place during and after DH beginning sometime before the final battle. It's not exactly cannon I changed Minerva's age placing her about at the age of Severus, for some reason I have always seen her as a younger woman than she was in the movies. The idea for this story came to me while I was in Germany this summer and I have been adding to it ever since and I have also begun a prequel which I may publish sometime in the near future. This is also my first fan fiction so hopefully its not too bad. I hope you enjoy what I have so far.

Disclaimer: Everything in Harry Potter belongs to the amazing J.K. Rowling, sadly I do not own anything other than Katherine McGonagall

* * *

><p>It had been almost a year since he, her beloved had betrayed them, and he had shown his true allegiance to He-Who-Must-Not-be-Named, he had fooled them all. Then he had done the dreadful deed and killed Dumbledore, her beloved husband Severus Snape was on the other side now. Though she hated to say it she missed him. Getting up every morning in their bed, looking at his empty spot on the bed and missing him. After the betrayal he had left Minerva and their daughter Katherine. Eventually You-Know-Who had made him headmaster so he could loom over the school and do as he pleased. From that point on it had been as if Severus and Minerva didn't know each other. From the time the death eater's had taken over Minerva was always on her toes, she would not allow her secret marriage to be discovered for any reason. Her biggest concern was her daughter, Katie; she would not allow anything to happen to her precious little gift from God.<p>

Wearily Minerva woke up from a restless sleep, ever since that night on the tower she had not been able to get a restful sleep. Looking over at Severus's side of the bed sadly. The man she thought she had known, the one she had been secretly married to for twenty-three marvelous years. She had known him to be a kind, gentle, loving man who would never truly be mean. Someone she had thought she had known so well but had really known so little about. She knew she was wasting her time thinking about him; so wearily she got up and changed from her green nightgown in to one of her black dresses, and put on her emerald green robes. Even in these dark times she had to keep up a pleasant appearance not just for the students but for her daughter as well.

After quietly checking in on her daughter's room to be sure she was still there and safe and sound, Minerva quickly made her a small breakfast and hurried off to the Great Hall. If one of the deatheaters noticed that she was even a little bit late to breakfast, she would be under immense suspicion, and would be punished by some brutal method, she had seen it done to many of her colleagues before, for Katie's sake she did not want it to happen to her. If she were injured badly or made unable to work she would not be able to take care of her daughter. Thinking of that Minerva hastened her pace and made it to the Great Hall in record time. Slowing down she straightened her self out outside the door and caught her breath. Gracefully she straightened up and took her place at the staff table and started with breakfast. She purposefully looked away from the Headmaster's spot, looking at him hurt too much, even more so than thinking about him.

As she was eating her breakfast she didn't notice the Headmaster gazing at her, just for a moment with a look of pain in his eyes. His beloved wife was sitting just over there if only she knew that he was working under Dumbledore's orders and that he hadn't been on the dark side. How he wished he could tell her but she would be in extreme danger if she knew his secret. He could not allow her to be harmed, even if it meant not being able to be with her. It was for her safety that, he, could not tell her the truth, it was better for everyone. Even if it meant seeing her with another man, so long as she was safe and happy that was all that was important. He truly missed his wife and his daughter very much, and felt so much pain in not being able to spend time with them, or be there for them every day. He felt like the worst father imaginable, unable to spend anytime with his family for their safety if Voldermort found out about his daughter he would surely find some way to use her against him. He would torture her to make sure he did his bidding, he wouldn't be able stand something like that. Likewise if Voldermort found out about Minerva he would torture her in front of him, it would cause her to completely break down.

Voldermort had always had an, infatuation with Minerva, sort of a schoolboy crush, but more like lust than anything else. He didn't love her he wanted her power, he wanted a beautiful great trophy at his side, someone he could use and not love. His love and infatuation of power drove him after Minerva constantly. Severus knew all of this from reading his mind, Severus was much more skilled in legilimens than Voldermort knew and he would like too keep it that way. If Voldermort knew that his "right hand man" was even involved with Minerva he would be furious. He would force Severus to watch as he did all of those horrible to her. Severus knew he could not allow any of this to happen so he had to keep the secret, it was imperative. To protect his family he had to do what was right even if it caused them some pain it was nothing compared to what would happen to them if they knew.

The school day was about ¾ of the way over and Minerva sat at her desk during her advanced Transfiguration class waiting for 4:00 when class got out. It was her last class of the day, she wanted to go back to her chambers and spend some time with her daughter, she always worried about Katie, especially having to leave her all alone all day hidden in her quarters to protect her, and keep her out of sight from the deatheaters and even Severus, the girl's father. Minerva's thoughts were interrupted by a tapping on the window by her desk, looking over she found an owl tapping on the glass. Quickly she opened the window and allowed the bird to come in. After taking the message from the bird she gave it a piece of toast left over from her break that she had been unable to eat, and then sent it on its way. Looking at the envelope she could tell that it had not been tampered with by the deatheaters, it had come directly to her. It was either from someone whom they trusted very much, or someone that was extremely clever, or both.

She was about to open the envelope when she noticed a little note on the outside, that instructed her not to open it until she was in private. So instead she put the envelope inside of her inner robes and went on with her work. She had only fifteen minutes left until class was out, she supposed she could wait that long to read the letter.

Not five minutes after class was over Minerva readied herself and went back to her chambers, (luckily she did not meet any deatheaters on her way there.) She entered them quietly and began her search for Katie. Quietly she peered in to the library. Ah there was her daughter nose deep in a book reading, she should have known. Minerva decided not to disturb her at the moment and opted rather to go to her bedchambers and read the mysterious letter she had received during last hour. As she opened the letter she immediately recognized the graceful script it was written in, it was from Severus!

Minerva, I would kindly like to request your presence in my office tonight at 8:00. I have some pressing and personal matters to discuss with you, and some additional matters for the end of this term and the beginning of next.

-Severus


	2. Chapter 2

Author's note: I'm so sorry for the long wait for this chapter, so many things have just come up and I've been really busy. I have to admit that I've also been a little distracted by the baby grand piano I received as an early Christmas gift this year. I hope you enjoy this next chapter! I would also like to wish everyone a belated Merry Christmas, and a very Happy New Year!

As always nothing belongs to me other than Katherine McGonagall, the rest belongs to the wonderful J.K. Rowling.

The Nerve of that man, she couldn't believe it, now of all times he wanted to see her? Not earlier, but now? She thought about not showing up, but she was curious about what he wanted, and no doubt he would send someone to get her anyhow, so it would probably be best if she just went, it would be easier to get it done and out of the way. She would have to find someone to watch Katie though. Suddenly she heard a crash coming from the library. Quickly she ran to see what the matter was, and what had happened.

"Katie, are you alright, what happened?" cried Minerva, rushing over to her daughter. Katie was sitting on the floor; there were tears in her eyes.

"I, I, was reach, reaching for a book but I couldn't get to it so I climbed up the bookshelf and I lost my balance and fell." Sobbed Katie.

"I think you've broken your arm," said Minerva at last, feeling a twinge of guilt for leaving Katie alone all day. " You should have called me in here if you had wanted the book I would have gladly gotten it for you." Said Minerva " It wasn't worth your getting hurt over it."

"I'm sorry Mommy." Said Katie "I didn't think you were back yet and I didn't want to bother you"

"Please don't do that again Katie, it's no bother for me to come help you, and you know that. It's painful for me to see you like this. Remember, when you are hurt I can feel some of your pain as well, that's the way mothers are." Said Minerva "I'll owl Poppy now, and we'll see if we can get your arm fixed, you should be alright in no time."

Within 15 minutes Poppy was at the door, with her bag and wand at the ready. Minerva quickly ushered her inside and shut the door behind her. "What's wrong with Katie? Is she ill? Did she get hurt? Both? I'm here to help." Said Poppy hurriedly.

"Come with me." Minerva said and led Poppy to Katie's bedroom, where she was lying on her bed. "I believe that she has broken her arm." Said Minerva worriedly.

Poppy had already taken out her wand and was casting spells quickly. "Oh, my." She said. Looking at the results of her diagnostic spells. "She has broken her arm."

"Poppy, I know that when you get that look on your face something is terribly wrong." Said Minerva, nervously clasping and unclasping her hands, but not allowing her voice to waver. Whatever was wrong, she had to stay strong in front of Katie, she could not allow herself to crumble, and Poppy knew that.

"Could we step outside of Katie's room for a moment?" asked Poppy quietly. Minerva nodded in agreement, so they stepped out and closed the door quietly.

"What's wrong with my daughter?" Minerva asked, as calmly as she could. Though she was trying to hide it Minerva was very worried about her daughter. She was also very anxious to find out what was wrong and see if it could be fixed easily. Anytime her daughter was concerned Minerva always worried immensely, even when she got a paper cut. Katie was her only child, she had a right to worry. Ever since Katie was born Minerva always took the utmost care of her. For a long time Minerva had been unable to get pregnant, try as she might it would not happen. When it finally did, Minerva was over the moon. She had taken every possible precaution to make sure that she didn't loose the baby. After Katie was born Minerva took even more care to make sure that her daughter was protected from the outside world.

At that moment Minerva's thoughts were interrupted by Poppy speaking again. "Your daughter's arm is fractured in two different places, normally I would be able to repair it completely, but because of all of the injuries around here, and the restraints put on my magic by the deatheaters, I can only take away some of her pain." Said Poppy "I'm sorry I can't do more, the rest of the arm will have to heal the muggle way with a cast, it could take quite some time."

"If it is this bad I should cancel my meeting with the headmaster tonight and stay with Katie." Said Minerva firmly "I'm certain he would understand, our daughter's health is more important than a meeting."

"You will do no such thing." Said Poppy "The last thing your daughter needs right now is an overprotective, worrying, mother here. Not to mention the deatheater goons the man might send to make sure you go to this meeting."

"I can't leave her all alone when she is injured like this, she needs company." Said Minerva.

"She won't be alone, I'll take care of her here, and you can spend the night in my quarters, you send some of your clothes there now. Anyhow I haven't been able to see much of Katie since the blasted betrayal took place." Said Poppy." Now you should be getting dressed and getting your stuff together for your meeting tonight, it is already 7:30."

Minerva hadn't realized the time, she quickly followed Poppy's instructions and got everything ready for her meeting, she even changed clothes. She found herself putting on Severus's favorite dress, and wearing the perfume he gave her, it was her favorite. After sending some clothing to Poppy's rooms, she was ready to go and with a few minutes to spare, she kissed Katie goodbye and told her she would see her tomorrow. She explained that since her Aunt Poppy hadn't seen her for a long time she was going to stay with her tonight and have a girl's night with her. She didn't tell Katie that she was going to see her father tonight, she didn't want to get the poor girls hopes up too much.

Minerva quickly made her way through the hallways towards the Headmaster's office, to make sure she was on time she found herself nearly running to get there. She had gotten to the entrance to of the office but at that moment she had realized that Severus had not given her the password to get in. All of a sudden as she was standing there a few deatheaters showed up, eying Minerva hungrily. She didn't have to be a mind reader to know what they were thinking, fresh meat. They couldn't wait to get their hands on her, and they didn't. They reached out for her and grabbed her, pulling her closer.

As Severus was rounding the corner to his office he saw something that completely disgusted him. Two deatheaters were cornering his wife, he could tell what was on their minds, and he didn't like it. He could not allow them to go through with this. It was all he could do to keep a cool head and keep from cursing them in to the next century. The only thing that kept him from doing that was the possibility of Minerva being injured by any of them. He had to do something. Minerva could hold her own in any situation, but he would hate for her to have to resort to that.

Minerva was starting to loose her cool, she was becoming overwhelmingly frightened at the prospect of these men and had to figure out some way to escape, without causing them to retaliate. If only they knew who her husband was, then maybe they would get away from her, then again if they knew whom her husband was You-Know-Who would probably kill him in cold blood. Though she hated to admit it she was still in love with this man, the one that had betrayed them and gone back to the dark side, after they had all trusted him, and given him a second chance. Yes, she found it impossible to stop loving this man. All of a sudden as the two deatheaters were closing in on her, someone came up behind her, wrapped an arm around her waist and scooted her to the office doorway. "She's mine." Severus said, as they ascended to his office. After they were inside he gently let go of her and gestured for her to sit down in one of the comfy armchairs. Then took the one across from hers himself.

"You said you had some, school matters to discuss with me?" she asked, shaking a little bit in his presence.

"Yes, I do, I think we should get those out of the way first, because I have some rather personal matters to discuss with you as well." He said " First and foremost I would like to make sure that everything is ready for the end of term this coming year? All of the exams are written adequately? All of the students are prepared for them?"

"Yes, we have been working around the clock to make sure everyone is ready and prepared. It would be much easier for us to prepare the students if we didn't have to worry about all of the death eaters roaming the school, and disturbing our lessons." She said, as they went in to a deep conversation about plans for the rest of that term and for the next, which lasted for over an hour.

Severus was finally ready to discuss his personal matters with his wife, hopefully she wouldn't kill him before he finished his conversation with her. He just had to know how his daughter was doing, he hadn't seen her in almost a year, since he had faked his allegiance to Voldermort, in order to fulfill Dumbledore's plan. He hated having to do it, he wished he were allowed to live his own life instead of what Dumbledore wanted him to do all of the time, but he knew he had a duty to help the Order and to protect everyone on the good side. He could not allow Voldermort's reign of terror to keep going on, he had to be stopped. He knew there was a high probability that Voldermort would not allow him to survive, but he had to try to survive, and look for the bright side of everything. To every cloud there was a silver lining. Well it was now or never he had to ask her. " Minerva, our daughter, I've missed her." He said taking a picture out of his robes and looking at it. It was taken not long before he had to "switch sides" it was of Katie. He took it out quite often, but would not allow it to get bent or too worn. " Could you find it in you heart to allow me a visit with her? I know you probably don't trust me, and are worried, and I don't' blame you for that, but I wouldn't do anything to hurt Katie. She is much too precious to me. With all she says and does, I think of her all of the time."

"I don't know." Said Minerva, hearing the waver in his voice when he asked, and the look in his eyes. She was still unsure of whether or not she could trust this man, especially with her daughter. Even with her closest friends she was always very careful on the subject of Katie. She knew that even though she didn't say anything about it Katie missed her father immensely, and that it would be wrong for her to deprive Katie, and Severus of the right to see one another.

"How is Katie doing?" he questioned." Is she feeling alright, has she been studying?"

Minerva could tell that he was worried and she decided to tell him everything, it could not harm her if he knew, how she was doing he was her father after all and fathers had the right to know how their children were doing. "She has been studying more than ever." Said Minerva "With all of the time she has to herself, but the studying and reading seem to have become a bit of an obsession with her. You wouldn't believe all of the other antics she has gotten herself in to, some have been more dangerous than others."

"Minerva, there is something you're not telling me. What happened to Livie, that is causing you to worry, like this?" he asked a note of panic in his voice, he could not allow harm to come upon the people that he loved. If something bad had happened to Katie or Minerva he had no idea what he would do. Voldermort had killed Lily Potter, the first woman he loved. He could not allow that to happen to Minerva. His love for Minerva was much deeper than his love for Lily, but he always had a special place for her in his heart. His patronus would always be a doe in memory of her. He would always love Lily, but he had found someone else that he could be happier with, a woman that had agreed to become his wife and eventually the mother of his child. He could not allow anything to happen to his family, they would always come first.

"Katie was reaching for a book on the top shelf in the library, but she couldn't get to it so she decided that she would climb up the bookshelf and get it. I was in my room for a moment, and she didn't want to bother me so she just climbed up the shelf and went after it." Minerva said, holding back tears.

"Is she okay?" asked Severus, worry clearly visible in his eyes. He had hoped that nothing seriously bad had happened to Katie and that Minerva was just overreacting a bit, as she often did when it came to their daughter. Minerva treated her like glass.

"She fell down, off of the top shelf, and landed on her arm." Minerva explained, unable to hold back tears anymore." Her arm was fractured in two places." Minerva knew she was being a bit overdramatic, but she couldn't help it, her poor daughter was in pain, and she couldn't even be with her right now.

"Did Poppy heal her arm?" asked Severus in a worried tone of voice.

"Due to the restraints and taxations on her magic, and the severity, Poppy was only able to take away some of the pain and not heal her arm. She says that Livie will have to heal the muggle way, and that some of the arm may not heal at all." Minerva started crying, she could put up barriers, and hide her emotions most of the day in front of the students, but the stress was just getting to be too much for her. This concerned her daughter; instead of her students the pain was much different.

"Is she positive about that?" he asked, wrapping his arms around his wife to comfort her. Seeing his wife in pain made everything so much worse for the potions master, he couldn't stand the thought of another woman he loved in pain, suffering.

"Absolutely positive." Said Minerva weeping in to Severus's chest. "Is that all you wanted to know?" asked Minerva wiping her eyes with a tartan handkerchief

"Not exactly." He said standing up and walking around. "I want to know about you, how you've been faring, it has been too long since we have had a proper conversation. I have truly missed your company, and I miss you. Seeing your face every morning when I wake up, hearing your voice and enjoying pleasant conversation over breakfast. I even miss our constant bickering in public places. I don't quite know any other way to put this, but I love you Minerva, still after all of these years, and through everything that has happened to us, and to our world. You are my candle in the darkness, and because I care for you so much all I want is your happiness, it pains me to see you unhappy, and I cannot let that be. Therefore I would like to offer you a divorce if you want, I can make all of the necessary arrangements."

A divorce? Minerva wouldn't even dream of it, she was happy being married to this man, even if he was on the dark side because she loved him, and cared for him, and she truly couldn't be happy without him. Minerva was silent for a while "I wouldn't even think about a divorce." Said Minerva "I still love you very much, I have missed your company, and every morning when I wake up I miss seeing your face. The reason I look away from you every morning at breakfast is that looking at you brings back sad memories and makes me wish that you were with me. That we could speak freely, that we could have our old life back. I even miss our arguments, our ups, and our downs. Before you say anything I know dark times are coming and I would still be glad to stand by you through them all, even if we do not see eye to eye on some things."

Severus could hardly believe it, all day he had been preparing himself for the inevitable. He was sure she would leave him happily, but alas she had decided to stand by him through it all. "Minerva, you know that there is a high probability that I will not make it through this war alive, correct?" Severus said

"I'd say we both have the same chances of surviving this war, and that doesn't deter me in the least from staying by your side. No matter what happens I will be there for you." Minerva said, getting up and walking towards Severus, turning to face him." Don't worry, we'll make it through these dark times together, I will never leave you."

Severus took her hands in his and kissed them. "Know that no matter what happens I will always love you." He said taking her in his arms and holding her close in a loving embrace. Delicately he removed all of her hairpins, letting her long hair fall down to her waist. He had always preferred her hair down; he thought she looked even more beautiful that way. Leaning down he quickly kissed her on the lips, before checking to see if he had crossed the line.

Minerva looked up at him, staring intently in to his eyes. It had been a long time since he had last kissed her, a very long time. "I love you too Severus." She said, standing on her toes kissing him back. This time the kiss lasted longer and intensified, with the two only breaking apart when they needed to breathe. Minerva felt happier than she had in a very long time.

"If it is alright with you, and it's not too late, how about a friendly game of chess?" asked Severus with a twinkle in his eye.

"I would be delighted." Said Minerva and with that the two of them walked arm in arm to the chess table. Minerva even detected the slightest smile on her husband's face. Something she had not seen in a long time.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: I'm so sorry for neglecting this story for such a long time, it was really terrible of me to do so. I will try to make sure that this doesn't happen again, but with my schedule I can't make any guarantees about weekly updates, but I'll try to have somewhat regular updates from this point onwards. As a side note I would like to thank all of the wonderful people that have reviewed this story for their input, I appreciate it very much. So without much further ado here is chapter three, I hope you enjoy reading it. As always nothing in the Harry Potter universe belongs to me, except for Katie McGonagall, the rest belongs to the wonderful J.K. Rowling.

* * *

><p>Minerva woke up to find herself in a dark room, wrapped in an all too familiar pair of arms. What had she done? How could she have done this? She had fraternized with the enemy, well she had done MORE than just fraternize with him, she had dinner with him, a game of chess and well this. She knew with all of her heart that what she had done was wrong, but why couldn't she feel bad about it. As much as Minerva wanted to beat herself up because of what she had done she couldn't. She couldn't beat herself up because she didn't regret what she had done, and that was the worst part of it. If the other teachers knew of her scandalous behavior they would hate her for it, but Minerva didn't care she was an independent woman and she could do as she pleased. Even if that involved being with the man that killed Albus Dumbledore, her friend, mentor, and father figure.<p>

Guilt washed over Minerva as realization of what she had done hit her. She had willingly given herself to the man that had killed the greatest wizard of all time. She was a traitor, a filthy rotten traitor, how could she have done this? She wanted to blame him but she couldn't she was the one that allowed herself to do this, she was the one that gave in, it was her choice. He never pointed his wand at her and told her she had to do this with him. After all it wasn't Severus's fault she loved him.

Minerva thought about getting out of bed and sneaking away, back to her own quarters, or to Poppy's but thought better of it. What if someone caught her? How would it look for her to be sneaking out of the Headmaster's quarters in the dead of night in a nightgown? She could just leave in her tabby cat form, but she would have to leave her stuff behind. No she would have to stay here until the morning, so against her better judgment she stayed where she was snuggling closer to him and laying her head on his bare chest, only to realize that he was covered in scars and gashes, some of these she knew, but most of them were recent, very recent, as if he had been injured only this past evening. Taking her finger she traced one of the long scars that went down his chest, she couldn't believe it.

"What happened to you?" she quietly said to herself. Looking him up and down, trying not to picture the situation.

"The dark lord likes to take out his anger on those who serve him." Severus said quietly, looking down at Minerva, an unreadable expression on his face.

"Oh Severus, what have they done to you?" exclaimed Minerva. " You must be in so much pain."

"I am no stranger to pain Minerva, its presence is all to common in my line of work. Would you like to know which scar gives me the most pain though?" he asked Minerva solemnly. Minerva just nodded her head signaling for him to continue "This one." He said taking his hand and tracing the long scar on Minerva's chest.

Minerva began to say something but Severus held up his hand to stop her. "This one is the most painful because of the memories it brings up. I almost lost you that night darling. I can never forgive myself for not preventing that." He said. "I should have been with you, I should have stopped you from going outside, from facing her. You should never have been placed in such a situation."

Minerva was shocked to hear the pain in her husband's voice; she had no idea how profoundly that night had affected him. "How could you possibly blame yourself for this?" Minerva asked him "I went out there on my own free will, it was my own fault. "

"There was no excuse for my behavior, I should have been there with you the whole time. You could have died, an attack like that would kill most witches and wizards in an instant, it is a great and wonderful miracle that you survived it." He said. "There was one point after the attack that they didn't think that you would make it, I was so distraught I didn't know what to do. So I just prayed that you would make it through, that you would survive this, that you could live to see Katie grow up. I also prayed for strength and courage, so that if the worst did happen I would be able to raise Katie and so that I would be able to go on. One of my greatest fears is that I will not be there to protect you if ever you are in grave danger."

Minerva knew at once that Severus had not used her, he never had, no matter where his loyalties lay Minerva knew one thing, his heart still belonged to her.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note: So finally I had the time to finish up chapter 4 and post it, hopefully chapter 5 will be coming in the next day or two, so be on the lookout. I hope all of you enjoy this chapter, as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thank you again for the reviews they always make my day, and give me that extra push I need to continue writing, and adding to this story. As always I own nothing except Katie, the rest belongs to the truly wonderful author JK Rowling. As a side note I finally got my Pottermore account and I was sorted in to Gryffindor. :) So without further ado here is chapter 4!

* * *

><p>A few days later it was finally time for Severus to visit Katie, Minerva had arranged this time with him during their chess games that one night. She had not looked at him since that day, let alone spoken with him. She hoped that everything went well and that Katie didn't bear much resentfulness towards her father after what he had done. Not that Minerva had allowed her to know the full extent of what it was he had done. He was after all still her father; no matter who he was she should at least show him some respect. She had made all of the necessary arrangements, to make sure that everything was just right for this day, she had no idea why she cared so much but none the less she even dressed up for his visit. She made sure that Katie was at her best as well, this would be the first time she had seen her father in over a year, Minerva had wanted her to look her best.<p>

Time had flown by so much that when he actually came by it startled Minerva. Graciously she invited him in to her rooms, she wouldn't dare allow Katie to open the doors, there was a risk that she might be seen. Severus had seemed to understand why she was doing what she was thankful. Katie was sitting on the couch, giddy with excitement and the thought of seeing her father, after all of this time. She couldn't believe that it had been almost a year since their last conversation. How long ago that seemed at this moment in time, how long ago that he had last given her a hug, her had read her a story, had taught her how to make new potions. So many things had happened since they had last seen each other so it was hard to figure out where to begin. When she saw him she couldn't restrain herself, she jumped up and hugged him.

Severus was both shocked and touched at his daughter's reaction to his visit. He could hardly believe that she was hugging him after all that he had done, and the way he was forced to behave in the outside world. He had hoped that she hadn't heard about all of the rotten things he was forced to do. He was bursting with joy to see her as well and gently hugged her back. This was the soft side of the potions master that only his family was allowed to see, the affectionate, kind and caring side, if any of the students had seen him behave this way they surely would have been very shocked with his behavior. He couldn't believe that he was letting his guard down, even now, but he couldn't stay rigid and emotionless with his own family, he wasn't evil, and he would not allow them to believe that he didn't care about them. Distancing himself from them was only for their protection. The only thing that kept him from revealing his secret was the potential danger that knowledge would be to them if they knew. One thing Severus knew was that if something happened to his family he didn't think that he would have the strength to go on with his life.

All of a sudden Severus was drawn out of his thoughts by the sound of his daughter crying. He wondered what it was that he had done to upset her and then he remembered her arm. Minerva was right; Poppy hadn't been able to heal it. Sitting down with her on the sofa he took a careful look at her arm." Minerva, could you bring me a cauldron, an assortment of herbs, nettles, some cinnamon, and a unicorn hair?" Asked Severus.

Minerva nodded and was back off in a moment. She had just peered in to his personal stock of potions ingredients, and retrieved his cauldron. She had left his things just as they had been before. She had no intention of changing anything, a voice in the back of her head just told her not to give up on him. She had hoped that he would come back, and she wanted everything ready for when he did. Within five minutes she had returned to her husband and child with all of the necessary materials, she found herself curious as to what potion Severus was going to brew. She had a vague memory of him making something similar to this before, she was fascinated with his trade. She considered it an art the way he mixed and made all of the potions. His strong, skilled hands working away, he knew and took great pride in his trade and it was visible in the way he worked. How he delicately mixed the ingredients to perfection, to make it just right. How he would not allow even the slightest imperfection in his work. Just seeing how much care was put in to every little detail was enough to see that he considered this very seriously. Diligently he worked on the potion, even taking out a flask or two from his robes and adding their contents to the brew. When it turned purple he conjured up a goblet and filled it with the misty purple liquid. After stirring it twice more he held the goblet out to Katie. "Drink this slowly." He said.

"What is that?" asked Minerva cautiously eyeing up the liquid in her daughter's hands. " You are not taking one sip until I know what that is Katie."

"Minerva, I know that right now you aren't placing very much trust in me, and you have good reason to question my intentions." he asked "At a certain point I must ask do you really believe that I would poison my own daughter Minerva? Though my life has not been completely honorable I should hope you would think more of me than that."

" I want to know what that potion is before my daughter drinks it, I would prefer not to take any chances where Katie is concerned." Said Minerva fixing him with one of her signature icy glares. Katie was still whimpering and clutching her arm in pain.

"Minerva, all I ask is that you trust me, at least this once." He pleaded with her, "I promise that nothing bad will happen to Livie if she drinks this potion."

By this point Minerva was at her wits end with her darling child in pain, and her husband giving her a look she just couldn't say no to and she knew it. He had won this round, and she was certain she knew it but that didn't mean she would let up right away. "Fine but if anything goes wrong you will never hear the end of it, and I will transfigure you in to a toadstool" She said, as if challenging him to make something go wrong, just so she could carry out her threat. Which now that she though of it would make a very interesting picture

"Drink this slowly Livie, don't worry it won't hurt you." Said Severus caringly. Minerva watched her drink the potion, worry clearly written on her face, and in her eyes. As she drank the potion more color came in to her cheeks and she even stopped crying, she started looking much better.

"Did you heal her arm?" asked Minerva curiously. Looking at her daughter, and checking her over, as if waiting to see if she was going to burst in to flames, or disappear.

"No I did not heal her, I merely gave her a potion to relieve the pain, I couldn't bear to see her suffering so much." He said." She should get to be rather hungry in the next few minutes, would you mind going to the kitchen and whipping something up for her to eat?" Minerva reluctantly agreed and quickly went to make the food, keeping a suspicious eye on Severus as she left.

Severus didn't blame her for not trusting him still. When she was in the kitchen Severus picked up his daughter's arm and examined it. Using his wand he undid the fastenings holding the cast on. Taking her arm in his hands he examined the swollen arm, he could not imagine how his daughter had managed to break her arm this badly and in so many places from falling off of a bookshelf, it just did not add up. "Katie, how did you manage to break your arm like this?" he asked her as he was quite suspicious about what actually caused her this pain.

"I was reaching for a book, so I climbed up trying to get it and I slipped and fell on my arm." She said looking at the ground.

"Katie, you and I both know that story is not true. We both know you inherited my gift for being able fly without a broom, even if your mother is still in the dark about it. If you were really reaching for a book and fell you would have caught yourself before you hit the ground. Whenever you feel ready to reveal the truth, just send me an owl and I'll come see you no matter how busy I am. For know though I just want to let you know that whoever did this to you will never touch you again." He said.

Meanwhile in the kitchen Minerva was rushing to make a sandwich for Katie. She had a sneaking suspicion that Severus had sent her in here to distract her so he and Katie could have some alone time, and so she wouldn't worry so much. She was hoping that everything was okay out in the sitting room. Why oh why did she trust him? What reasons had he given her not to trust him? He had never done anything to Katie, or herself, and he had always been so wonderful to them. There was too much on her mind right now to think straight, she had to get back to the task at hand before proceeding to anything else. She quickly finished up what she was doing and returned to the living room. Before going in she peered in to the room and what she saw amazed her, Severus was gently holding his daughter's arm in his hands saying an incantation, he was using hand magic to heal Olivia's arm! She just stayed where she was staring in awe at what he was doing, it took an extremely skilled wizard or witch to do what it was he was doing now, visibly the damage was quickly going away, no evil man would be able to do such an act of kindness, she realized.

"Minerva you may come in now." Said Severus without bothering to look up. Minerva was always shocked when he used his legilimens, she really should start practicing her occlumency, it would be practical for her to have that skill on hand incase the worst actually did happen. She went over and joined her husband and her daughter, taking a seat next to Severus on the couch. This was the first time since the Betrayal that they had actually gotten to sit down as a family.


	5. Chapter 5

Author's note: Well here is chapter 5 and in record time if I may say so. I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as the last one. I must say that so far this one was probably the hardest one to write. Thank you so much for the reviews and I hope you enjoy chapter 5!

* * *

><p>Later that evening Minerva and Severus were snuggled up together on the couch, Minerva wrapped in Severus's warm embrace. They had put Katie to bed about an hour ago and were enjoying some quiet alone time. It had been a long time since they had experienced this type of togetherness. Back before everything had happened on the astronomy tower they cherished these times, but even then they were rare. They always worried that one of the other professors would walk in on one of these intimate moments, which would throw the secret of their marriage out the door. The only member of the staff that had actually known of their marriage was Albus Dumbledore, and even he did find out for a few years. Upon this startling revelation he advised them to keep this marriage as much of a secret as possible in order to protect the two of them.<p>

Minerva disguised her pregnancy with Katie very well with only Poppy and Severus knowing about the entire event. After Katie's birth, Minerva finally relented and allowed the rest of the staff to know about their child. To explain the child's striking resemblance to Severus she cited the cause of her pregnancy as a potions accident, which really wasn't lying per say. The accident did lead to the pregnancy but was not the direct cause of it. The staff accepted Katie almost instantly after this with the women cooing, and holding her every chance they got, Minerva received a constant stream of compliments from the woman on how well she had hidden it, and how quickly she had lost the baby weight. All of the men, including Albus, congratulated Severus on becoming a father, and offered all sorts of advice on properly raising a child, even though many of them had no children of their own.

It was after this that Albus decided to allow Minerva and Severus to combine their quarters rather than spending the night in one set of their rooms or the other, or not at all. He placed a special charm on the two rooms so that even though they were in two parts of the castle, on two different floors they would be connected at the same time, but to outsiders, or when one of them needed space, they would appear to be the same as they had always been. The only problem was that if one of the staff walked in on them, kissing, or hugging, or something similar, they would see what was going on, so Minerva and Severus always had to play things safe.

Minerva cuddled closer to Severus with all of these thoughts running through her mind. "What are you thinking about Minerva?" asked Severus curiously.

"Can't you tell?" she asked him teasingly. Allowing herself to relax even more than she had been before, resting her head on Severus' shoulder, and looking up in to his deep dark eyes.

"No, as a matter of fact I can't." he replied teasing her again "I'm not a mind reader. "This only proceeded to make Minerva laugh, the beautiful, sound like the tinkling of bells that Severus loved. He could not help but make him smile. It had been so long since he had heard his wonderful wife laugh out loud. She must have been under so much stress this term; it was a wonder that she could get up and out of bed each and every day. He deeply admired her for her strength and resiliency among many other things.

"Well what do you think is going through my mind?" she asked him looking at him intently with big puppy dog eyes.

"Hard to say, if we are on the same brain wave here, I would say that you are thinking about, our darling daughter Katie, and all of the escapades she gets in to?"

"You do know me well Severus." Said Minerva, cuddling closer still to Severus.

Severus buried his nose in her hair taking in the sweet scent of strawberries, mixed in with the smell of cinnamon, and chocolate, with a hint of catnip that followed Minerva everywhere. He couldn't stop himself, he took out the two pins from her bun that would allow her long hair to fall down, draping around her shoulders. Severus ran his fingers through it allowing it to reach its true length, and frame her face. Severus liked her hair pulled up but he much preferred it framing her face and falling down past her shoulders.

"Severus." Said Minerva "If I didn't know you any better I would say that you were insinuating something." Minerva purred when Severus gently pulled her face to his and kissed her.

"If you didn't know me better." He said kissing her again, this time allowing it to deepen and last longer.

"Of course I may be underestimating you." She said as they were breaking for breath.

"Perhaps." He said with a slight smirk on his face "Or perhaps you are overestimating my ability to resist you." He said kissing her yet again.

"Perhaps you're correct." She replied, this time kissing him, soundly on the lips. Minerva was experiencing complete bliss right now, she and her husband were reunited for a second time within this two week period since their last encounter. Could her life get any better.

Sobbing coming from Katie's room interrupted Minerva's thoughts. Quickly Minerva went to get up and check on her, but Severus stopped her. "Wait here, I'll go and check on her." He said "Hold that thought though." He winked at her and went to Katie's room to check on her.

"What's wrong my little Poppet?" he asked as he sat down on the side of her bed and kissed her forehead.

"Don't let them come and take me Papa, don't let them come back." She sobbed, burying her face in his robes.

Severus wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. "No one is going to hurt you again as long as I am here, I'll see to it that you are protected, and so will your mother." He reassured Katie. "Would you like your mother and I to stay in here with you tonight? Would that make you feel better?"

Katie just nodded her head "Papa, please don't leave though, I need you." Katie hugged him again.

"Let me go get your mother, then I will stay with you all night." Severus said getting up and walking in to the living room. "Minerva, scratch that thought from earlier, Katie needs us to stay with her tonight, she has been having nightmares."

"My poor dear." Said Minerva immediately getting up and rushing down the hallway to Katie's room." Her poor child, nothing could come between and her and helping her child, not even being that close to Severus.

"Minerva." He said "Perhaps Katie should stay with us in our bed tonight instead of all of us staying in her room, she might find the surroundings in our room more stable than those of her room, where she first had the nightmares."

"Another brilliant idea." Said Minerva, quickly opening the door to her daughter's room and walking over to the bed. Before anyone could say anything Minerva reached down and enveloped her daughter in a warm embrace. "Katie, your father thinks that you should spend tonight in our room with us, would that be okay with you?" Katie nodded her head so Minerva helped her up, and she Severus and Katie walked down the hallway to their bedroom.

As soon as they were in there they allowed Katie to crawl in to the middle of the bed, and after transfiguring their clothes to bed clothes they crawled in with her , both laying on their sides so that they could face her.

"Don't worry Katie, no one can take you with your mother and I here to protect you so sleep tight and have sweet dreams little poppet." Said Severus gently looking down at his daughter's sweet face.

"Your father is right Katie, sleep well, we will keep watch over you." Said Minerva gently. With that the three of them fell asleep all comfortable in the fact that they were surrounded by family.


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note: Well here we are, yet another day, and another new chapter! I think this vacation is doing me some good after all, I finally have the time to work on this story. Here is chapter 6, it came to me when I was looking over the new copy of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix I purchased today (In German!) This may seem a little out of place but I have a chapter planned for awhile later that will tie in to this one, so enjoy, and if you like it please remember to review! If anyone has any ideas for this story, or if you think there is something I should add please by all means feel free to p.m. me!

Disclaimer: Sadly I do not own Harry Potter, only dear sweet Katie, the rest belongs to J.K. Rowling.

* * *

><p>Wearily Severus trudged up the path back to Hogwarts from Hogsmeade village, he didn't have the strength to apparate back to the castle. He had just returned from a dreadful deatheater gathering at Malfoy Manor, he had left the gathering with more injuries than he started with. He hated having to do these terrible things; he hated them with a passion. He did not like even one of the other deatheaters or the company they kept. As much as he wanted to blame Dumbledore for asking him to return to their ranks, he couldn't. To him the torture he endured here was Penance for joining the death eaters to begin with. The good God fearing man that he was Severus tried to take all of this in stride.<p>

By the time Severus finally reached the castle he found that he did not have the strength to return to the Headmaster's quarters. He would not allow himself to just fall to a heap on the floor; he couldn't let anyone see him at a moment of weakness, especially not the Carrows. They would report him as incompetent and weak, not suited for his work and assume his position. He could not allow that to happen, the children would suffer too much under their regime. For a moment he stood there leaning against the wall thinking about his options. He decided that his best bet would be his rooms in the dungeons. If he could just make it there in time he could find a flask of one of his potions, and then see if he could get up the strength to return to his current quarters, and patch himself up.

So he half limped, half dragged himself down the stairs to the dungeon corridor and muttered the secret password to allow him access to his rooms. Once inside he collapsed, falling to the ground with a crash.

Sometime later Severus awoke in the bed he and Minerva shared, he opened his eyes to see Minerva standing over him, tears in her eyes. "Thank the Lord." She said, "You've finally awoken."

Severus tried to reply to her sudden remark, but Minerva stopped him, cutting him off before he could even say one word. "We will have none of that Severus." She said "You are not getting out of here anytime soon. I forbid it, you have been brutally injured, and I will not allow you to leave in this condition."

"I can take care of myself." Said Severus trying to get up, albeit unsuccessfully, as he could barely move at all. The pain was so severe at this point he could barely think straight.

"That may very well be, but in this condition you are not going anywhere." Minerva replied, easing him back down. After another one of Minerva's stern looks he finally gave in. While all of this was going on she carefully started to prepare some healing supplies for Severus. Since she had not yet seen the extent of his injuries she decided that she would be prepared for anything. When Minerva heard the crash down the hall, by Severus' entrance she ran to see what the matter was. When she saw him lying on the floor, completely limp she nearly screamed. She carefully brought him to their room and laid him out on the bed, propping his head up. Then she took out some smelling salts in hopes of waking him up. It had taken awhile but finally he was conscience again, so now she could proceed to bandaging him up, and employing the use of disinfectant, salve, her wand, and some of the potions she found in his cupboard to help.

Minerva prepared herself for what she knew was the inevitable, every time he came home from one of these gatherings he was beaten and bruised, sometimes he was almost unrecognizable, and every time Minerva saw these injuries she was absolutely horrified by their extent. So after first tending to the minor injuries on his face, hands, and feet, she braced herself for what was to come. As she went to unbutton his shirt and remove it Severus stopped her.

"Severus, this is no time to be modest." She chided him "I have seen you with more than just your shirt off many, many, times."

"I'm serious Minerva." He said looking up at her, pain clearly evident in his eyes. "Please don't do it."

"Severus I have to, it's the only way I can help you." She said, "I promise I will be gentle." Reluctantly Severus finally relented, giving Minerva one last look of pain, and allowing his arms to fall to his sides. As gently as possible Minerva began unbuttoning her husband's shirt, careful not to bump him in the process. After finally removing it she gasped loudly. This had to be the worst Minerva had ever seen Severus before. His arms and chest were completely bruised and beaten. He was black and blue all over and he had deep gashes all over his chest. As gently and carefully as possible Minerva began applying disinfectant to the open wounds, nearly stopping every time Severus cringed from the pain. After seeing what he looked like Minerva found herself wondering how he had managed to make it all the way back here.

"What happened to you?" Minerva found herself asking aloud, a mixture of anger towards however had committed this act, and sadness and empathy for her poor husband.

Severus, who was drifting in and out of consciousness from the immense pain answered her without even thinking. "A few of the older deatheaters were mad about all of the attention I was receiving from the dark lord. They decided to confront me about it. I was pulled in to a side room where they started questioning me, and my allegiances. They alleged that I was really working against them. They would tell him anything to bring themselves back in his favor. I adamantly denied what they accused me of over and over, this only served to anger them even more, before I knew it all of them had their wands trained on me. Not long after ,they started doling out beatings and we were back in the main room again. I resisted them but then…" He said

Minerva couldn't help but gasp, "Why didn't you do more to defend yourself?" Minerva asked him somewhat shocked at her husband's decision at a time like this one, he may very well have been killed.

"We were in plain view of the dark lord at this time, he found this whole argument to be a great source of entertainment. As I was fighting back one of my accusers brought up a great deal of information that wasn't too far from the truth. The dark lord suddenly stopped merely laughing and began to listen intently to the ongoing fight. I knew that if I had gotten too far on the defensive that it would have given all of them the proof they so desperately needed to incriminate me. Soon there were more of them; I was completely surrounded. Soon the dark lord stepped in to the circle that was surrounding me. He told them that I was obviously innocent of their alleged treason and that they had nothing to fear. They wanted a show, they wanted to see something, they always loved watching this sort of thing. He relented by saying I needed punishment for being seen as weak, and sending the others the wrong message. He wanted me to know that in case the though of switching sides ever occurred to me there would be great consequences." Severus stopped his narrative there. He didn't want to go on with it any longer, he had said too much.

Minerva didn't press the matter, she didn't want to hear the rest of this story, it would be too hard. Just seeing her poor dear husband like this brought tears to her eyes. So without another word she went back to helping her husband to the best of her abilities.


	7. Chapter 7

Author's Note: I'm sorry for my sudden disappearance this past week, I was traveling with my father to Stuttgart to visit some family and friends and was totally devoid of internet there, although in some ways I am thankful for that because when I was there I received some major inspiration for this chapter. Without that knowledge I probably would have published only my first version of this chapter which would not have been quite the same in my opinion. As always nothing belongs to me other than Katie, the rest of the Harry Potter universe belongs to the fabulous JK Rowling. Please enjoy this chapter, and remember to review if you like it!

* * *

><p><span>A Note on This Chapter<span>: I got the inspiration for this chapter when my father and I were visiting with one of his old friends from Bosch. We were at his house in Stuttgart for a time, and were introduced to his girlfriend of two years. Just seeing how in love the two of them were made me think of this story and of the characters in it. This chapter in particular is based on dinner at my father's friend's house. Most of the interactions between Severus and Minerva were likened to those of our hosts. The dinner was even the same as was made that night. I apologize in advance if I got some of the facts wrong about the particular German meal used in this chapter, I wrote what I remembered from making dinner that evening. Even though this chapter might seem a little sappy, it was mostly based on real life events, with some new information added in between. This chapter was originally much longer, but I decided that I would split it in to two different chapters instead, the next of which should be up sometime tomorrow if possible.

* * *

><p>Severus sat at his desk working diligently; he only had a few more things left to finish off before he would be able to visit his beloved Minerva, and his darling poppet, Katie. It had been a few weeks since his last official visit with them and he could hardly wait to see them again. With a brandish of his quill he finished off his last piece of work, and readied himself for his visit. As soon as everything was in order he apparated to their living room. He and Minerva had agreed that it would be too risky for them if he came by her door, or his door in the dungeons. Someone could be watching them and get suspicious about things, given the current state of affairs they couldn't afford to risk it.<p>

He arrived to an excited daughter, and a smiling wife waiting for him. It seemed that all of them had been looking forward to this visit in one way or another. As soon as he was securely in the room Katie jumped up in to his arms and hugged him tightly, she was a lot more agile and excitable now that her arm was as good as new. She still had not told Severus the whole story yet, but he knew that she would soon. As an extra precaution after his last visit he had placed more protective charms around the rooms so that he could be certain that Katie and Minerva were protected. As long as he lived these charms would remain in place.

As soon as she finally let go of him Severus reached in to his robe pocket and pulled out a box of caramels for her. He knew how much his daughter loved the muggle confection; she had fallen in love with them when they had gone to visit his mother a few years back. Severus had decided to treat her and take her on a trip to a muggle candy store, after tasting the delicious treats she had taken an instant liking to them. Severus always made sure to take his daughter back to that muggle candy store every time they visited his mother from that point onwards.

After Katie had finished up with her greeting it was finally Minerva's turn, though she couldn't explain it Minerva suddenly felt as if there were butterflies in her stomach. As she and Severus warmly embraced the feeling just intensified, only letting up a bit as the two of them parted. This served to leave Minerva slightly confused, she had never felt anything quite like this before. She shouldn't still be feeling butterflies at this point in her marriage. Looking over at Severus Minerva got the feeling that he may have noticed something as well, but just what she did not know. All was forgotten when Severus reached behind his back and pulled out a bouquet of red roses bundled together with a scarlet and gold ribbon, encased in an emerald green and silver wrapping.

"Oh Severus." Minerva gasped, "They're gorgeous." Minerva melted inside when she saw what her husband had done for her. He had even remembered that red roses were her favorite flowers.

"They pale in comparison with you my darling." Severus whispered sweetly in her ear. Of course this only served to make Minerva blush bright red, putting her in a close competition with the roses she was holding.

"Shall I get started with dinner." Minerva asked the other two hoping to avoid anything that would cause her to blush even more.

"Yes WE should get to work, we don't want poor Katie to starve waiting for her dinner." Said Severus

"Alright, WE will make dinner tonight." Said Minerva feigning reluctance, she always loved preparing a meal with him, even though she thought that he was the better cook by far.

"May I make one more request?" Severus asked Minerva innocently.

"That depends on what it is." Minerva replied curiosity clearly visible on her face.

"Perhaps I could choose what we make for dinner, so long as you have not started on anything already." He said

"What did you have in mind?" she asked him,

"How about I surprise you?" he asked her "Unless you really want to know."

"How about you just give me a hint then." She asked, playfully hitting him with a dishrag.

"Well I thought that German food would be a good idea for a change, they never really serve it here." Said Severus "It really is one of the most underappreciated types of food."

"I think that's a wonderful idea Severus." Minerva said, pecking him on the cheek. "I have been having a craving for spaetzle for awhile now."

"Okay, shall we get started then?" he asked her with one raised eyebrow "Or do we have to wait here until Katie starves to death?"

"I get it, instead of blabbing we'll get to making dinner. If you don't mind my asking what exactly are we making for dinner tonight?" she asked him.

" If you concentrate on making the spaetzle, I will work on the rest of the meal, so you don't have to worry about that." Severus said with a twinkle in his eye. He was going to try and keep the element of surprise. Minerva didn't like to be kept in suspense, which made everything all the more interesting. He knew that she would not like to be kept in the dark, even though she would figure out what he was preparing sooner or later, unless he could distract her somehow. He would cross that bridge when he came to it.

Minerva started preparing the spaetzle, even though that gave her nothing to go on, spaetzle could go with a variety of different things.. Even though it was just dinner she wanted to know what it was. She hated being kept in the dark about anything, unless she approved of it beforehand. She didn't know what would amuse her dear husband more. The fact that he knew that she didn't like being kept in the dark, or the fact that she knew that he was doing this on purpose. The smirk on his face only served to annoy her more. Just serving to amuse him even more.

As Severus and Minerva were making dinner Katie watched them intently, she had never tried German food before, and found that she was very curious as to how it would taste. Most of the time her parents made Italian food, Scottish, or Irish foods. "Mum." Katie asked quietly

"What is it Katie?" Minerva asked, turning around to face her daughter, mixing bowl and spoon in hand.

"What are spaetzle?" She asked out of curiosity, edging forwards trying to see exactly what her mother was making

"Silly girl, you know what spaetzle are, you've had it many times, when you were little it was your favorite food. If you still insist that you don't know what they are why don't you come join me, and I'll teach you how to make them, then you can figure it out for yourself.

Katie eagerly joined her mother, anxious to learn a new skill, and find out what this mysterious food was. Her mother set the bowl down on the table and started procuring the necessary ingredients. When she had everything laid out on the table Minerva proceeded to mix them all in her bowl, after she had mixed hem so much, she handed the bowl to Katie. "Why don't you give it a try?" Minerva asked

Katie nervously took the bowl and began stirring the mixture, after the dough began to become harder to stir she handed the bowl back to Minerva who in turn finished off the dough.

"That should do it." Minerva said as she finished off the dough. "This is more difficult than I remember it to be." She said, using her wrist to move a few stray hairs out of her eyes.

"Perhaps it's always been this hard, and you just think it's harder now." Said Katie.

"Or perhaps you're just a little out of practice." Severus said, gently wiping some flour off of her forehead. "How about we take a break now? The food I'm preparing will still be in the oven for a little while."

"In that case I have something to show you Papa." Said Katie eagerly," Please you must come see it."

" I would love to see whatever it is you want to show me." Said Severus approvingly" Let me check with your mother first."

"Severus, I think that you have proven yourself worthy of my trust, go ahead, I'll stay here and start the water for the spaetzle. After all you will only be in the in the next room over" Minerva said "I'm sure whatever Katie has to show you is important."

Promptly Katie led Severus to her rooms to show him who knows what, one could never tell these things with Katie.

Minerva promptly began putting the water on the stove, and making sure that nothing else was boiling over. She was just preparing the spaetzle for the water, when suddenly; out of the blue she felt very dizzy and had to lean on the nearest tabletop to steady herself. In a minute it had passed, but not without Severus catching it. "Minerva" he said making his way over to her and taking her hand "Perhaps you should sit down." Gently he led her over to the couch supporting her the whole way there.

"I'm fine, really I am." She replied adamantly. She would not allow her family to worry and fuss over her; she was the one that was supposed to worry about them. Besides nothing was really wrong with her, she was perfectly capable of standing, and cooking with her husband, having to sit down she felt useless.

"Minerva, the last time you said you were "fine" you were in the hospital wing for several weeks recovering from a bad case of dragon pox." He reminded her as they were sitting down together. Severus still held Minerva's hand tightly in his, while facing her on the couch.

"Severus, it was just a dizzy spell, really I'm fine." Minerva tried to reassure him, but Severus wouldn't take that for an answer.

"You've been overworking yourself again, haven't you?" he asked her seriously. "Minerva, it's not good for you to burn the candle at both ends, going to bed extremely late at night, and still getting up at an extremely early hour every morning. You have to learn how to take better care of yourself. I won't always be around to remind you about these things darling. Please don't make that face at me you and I both know it is true. I know that you are capable of taking care of yourself, but you always put others first and sometimes you need to pay attention to your own health. I would suggest that you go to the Hospital Wing and see Poppy, but since I know you won't do that unless I prod you more, and unless you start really feeling sick, I won't."

"Thank you for that." Said Minerva, as she was moving to get up off the couch and go back to what it was she was doing.

"You are not getting up Minerva, you may stay here and avoid the Hospital Wing today so long as you sit down and rest. I will finish up with dinner, and all of the other preparations. If there is anything you need I'll get it for you but please stay put. It is for your own good that I'm doing this." Severus said.

Minerva didn't even bother resisting him this time. She knew that if she didn't do as she was told he would practically be dragging her down to the Hospital Wing and that was the last thing she wanted. Minerva was a very intelligent woman, but she was also very stubborn as well. She hated going to the Hospital Wing, it made her feel weak, and she did not want to show weakness in front of anybody. She liked Poppy well enough, and didn't mind going to visit her in the hospital wing once in awhile, but when she was threatened with the prospect of having to go there for medical reasons, she had to be very sick, or quite nearly dragged down there. Sometimes it had to be both.

Minerva had trouble relaxing on the couch so she just focused her attention on watching her husband finish off their meal. Of course they had both eaten a bit in the Great Hall, but the food was no longer as good, and they didn't get to include Katie. In these times it was quite common for the different professors to dine in their quarters. Minerva suspected that even the students brought their own food in and ate in their dormitories and common rooms.

Just as Minerva loved watching Severus with his potions, she also loved watching him cook and bake. She often told him that he was the better cook, but he always disagreed with her, stating that nothing he could prepare could even compare with her cooking. Sometimes Minerva really though that he flattered her to much, but she couldn't complain, even in her current circumstances she still felt like the luckiest woman in the world to have a husband like Severus.

Soon Severus had finished the meal and had set it out on he table for the three of them. He made sure to walk Minerva to the table and pull out a chair for her. She was ecstatic to see what it was that he had prepared for dinner. It had been far too long since she had last eaten this. He had made Sauerbraten for them, most people wouldn't think so much about such a meal, but Minerva thought a lot about it. He must have been planning this for some time, considering how long it took just to prepare the meat. It looked absolutely wonderful, and probably tasted the same as well. Minerva smiled as she saw Katie's wide eyes, she had probably never seen anything like it.

"Mum, I know this might be an odd question, but considering your background, and Papa's how on earth did you come up with a German dinner?" Katie asked.

Minerva laughed a little. "I suppose that is a question that merits a proper answer." Minerva said. "Would you like to hear the story about how this meal came to be in our list of recipes?"

"Yes please." Katie replied eagerly, staring at her mother with rapt attention.

"Alright, I'll tell you the story under one condition." Said Minerva

"What might that be?" asked Severus.

"I will only tell the story if, you tell it with me, as it is much easier to explain that way.

Katie looked between the two of her parents intently, hoping beyond hope that her Papa would agree to her mother's conditions. She always loved the stories her parents told her, especially the ones that took place before she was born.

"Alright." Severus relented" We must first eat our delicious dinner so that it doesn't get cold. Then I would be very glad to help your mother tell you this story. Will you two agree to that?"

Both Minerva and Katie agreed to his terms. So Severus set to uncovering the different trays and setting out the food, and Minerva got up to help him. All went well until Minerva caught a whiff of the rot kohl and suddenly felt dizzy again, this time she almost fell. Luckily Severus was there to catch her. "That's it Minerva, you are going to lay down." Said Severus " You can't say no to this, I told you this would happen if you overworked yourself." With that Severus picked her up and carried her in to their bedroom helping her in to her bedclothes and tucking her in. A few minutes later he brought her a bowl of beef broth and some fresh bread. As stubborn as she was Minerva had to admit that her husband was right, and that was one of the reasons she loved him so much.


End file.
